INTERNACIONAL
Texas AG Ken Paxton announces run for US Senate
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced on Fox News’ The Ingraham Angle Tuesday night that he will run for the U.S. Senate.
The announcement comes as Paxton no longer faces the cloud of a federal corruption investigation that loomed over him as he rose up the ranks in the Republican Party.
The announcement by Paxton, a close ally of President Donald Trump and a MAGA firebrand, comes two weeks after Republican Sen. John Cornyn officially launched his re-election campaign as he bids for a fifth six-year term serving Texas in the Senate.
«It’s time for a change in Texas,» Paxton told Fox News’ Laura Ingraham, before acknowledging Sen. Ted Cruz, Texas’ other Republican senator. «It’s time that we have another great senator that will actually stand up and fight for Republican values, fight for the values of the people of Texas and also support Donald Trump in the areas that he’s focused on in a very significant way.»
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Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton speaks at a news conference in Dallas, June 22, 2017. On Tuesday, Paxton announced that he will run for the U.S. Senate. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez, File)
On Sunday, Cornyn said he was looking forward to «the competition» amid rumors of Paxton’s candidacy.
«Ken Paxton is a fraud,» Cornyn’s campaign charged in a social media post after Paxton’s announcement. «He talks tough on crime and then lets crooked progressive Lina Hidalgo off the hook. He says his impeachment trial was a sham but he didn’t contest the facts in legal filings which will cost the state millions.»
TEXAS AG PAXTON ACQUITTED ON ALL IMPEACHMENT CHARGES: ‘THE TRUTH PREVAILED’
«He says he’s anti-woke but he funnels millions of taxpayer dollars to lawyers who celebrate DEI,» the post continued. «And Ken claims to be a man of faith but uses fake Uber accounts to meet his girlfriend and deceive his family.»
Cornyn’s campaign noted that the incumbent senator has voted with Trump more than 95% of current senators. Trump and Texas need a «battle-tested conservative» who knows how to protect his agenda in the Senate and won’t be outsmarted by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and the Democrats, the campaign said.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas. (Fox News Digital)
The announcement from Paxton puts the gears in motion for what may be an extremely expensive and bruising GOP primary battle, pitting the remaining establishment and business factions of the Republican Party versus the ascendant MAGA wing.
«It sets the table for the most expensive primary in Texas. It will be a brutal battle,» veteran Republican strategist Dave Carney told Fox News. Carney, the longtime top political adviser to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, noted that the announcement by Paxton also «opens up the attorney general’s race. There will probably be a very competitive primary for that and we’re going to have a lot of musical chairs down ballot.»
Matt Mackowiak, a veteran Republican strategist and communications consultant based in Texas and Washington, D.C., said «this is going to be the most expensive, nastiest, most aggressive, most personal U.S. Senate primary in Texas history.»
«You have two candidates who are going to raise significant funds, who are in significant positions, who do not like each and have not liked each other, whose teams do not like each other and the stakes could not be higher,» he emphasized.
WILL DEMOCRATS ONCE AGAIN CHASE THE ‘GHOST OF A BLUE TEXAS’ IN NEXT YEAR’S SENATE RACE?
Paxton’s announcement was not a huge surprise, as he has long claimed Cornyn does not represent the conservative values of Texans and has accused the senator of not being an ally of Trump.
He has also regularly labeled Cornyn a «RINO,» a «Republican in name only» and an insult MAGA and «America First» Republicans have regularly used to criticize more mainstream or establishment members of the GOP.
Paxton, who has been Texas’ top prosecutor since 2015, has regularly criticized his GOP rival, pointing to Cornyn’s position on a border wall and opposing Trump during the 2016 election.
Cornyn also previously came under criticism from conservatives after he helped push a bipartisan gun control bill after the 2022 mass shooting at a Uvalde, Texas elementary school that killed 19 students and two teachers.
Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton at his primary night celebration, on March 1, 2022, in McKinney, Texas. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)
Paxton, for a couple of years, had flirted with a primary challenge against the 73-year-old Cornyn, a former state senator, former Texas Supreme Court justice, and former state attorney general, who first won election to the U.S. Senate in 2002.
FACING POSSIBLE PRIMARY CHALLNGE FROM A TRUMP ALLY, LONGTIME TEXAS SENATOR ANNOUNCES RE-ELECTION
«I can’t think of a single thing he’s accomplished for our state or even for the country,» Paxton said in a September 2023 interview on the Fox News Channel. «Somebody needs to step up and run against this guy,» adding, «everything’s on the table for me.»
Fast-forward to earlier this year, and Paxton, at a county GOP meeting in Texas, told supporters that one of the things «we need to do, and I might play a role in this, is replace John Cornyn in the U.S. Senate.»
And in a Fox News Digital interview in January, Paxton acknowledged that he was «looking potentially at the U.S. Senate.»
Attorney General Ken Paxton speaks at an event outside the Texas Statehouse, on Feb. 28, 2022 in Austin. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)
Cornyn, during the early stages of the 2024 Republican presidential nomination race, had said he would prefer that the GOP take a new direction, which angered Trump. But the senator endorsed Trump in late January of last year, after the then-former president won both the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary, the first two contests in the Republican presidential nomination calendar.
Since Trump returned to the White House three months ago, Cornyn has been supportive of the president’s Cabinet nominees and agenda.
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And in the senator’s campaign launch video last month, the announcer highlighted that during Trump’s first term in office, «Texas Sen. John Cornyn had his back.»
As he gears up for what will most certainly be his roughest re-election of his decades-long career, Cornyn has the backing of the top Republican in the Senate, Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D.
And Republican sources confirm to Fox News that Thune, as well as National Republican Senatorial Committee chair Sen. Tim Scott, have personally asked Trump to back Cornyn.
Sen. John Cornyn speaks during a Senate Finance Committee hearing, on Capitol Hill, March 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
The president’s grip on the GOP is stronger than ever and any endorsement Trump may make in the emerging Republican Senate primary in Texas would be extremely influential.
Making Cornyn’s path to renomination even more difficult is a possible Senate bid by Rep. Wesley Hunt, who represents a Houston area district.
The third-term 43-year-old Texas Republican and rising MAGA star has made his case to the president’s political team, sources confirm to Fox News. Hunt’s argument is that he’s the only person who can win both a GOP primary and a general election, a source familiar with the discussions confirmed to Fox News.
An outside group supportive of Hunt is currently spending seven figures to run ads across the Lone Star State to increase the lawmaker’s name ID.
CORNYN’S RE-ELECTION CAMPAIGN SPARKS QUESTIONS ON BOTH PARTY FLANKS AS DEMS CHASE ‘THE GHOST OF A BLUE TEXAS’
GOP Rep. Wesley Hunt of Texas headlines the opening of the first Trump campaign office in Pennsylvania, on June 4, 2024, in Philadelphia. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)
Some Republican operatives and strategists worry that a primary battle in Texas could cost up to $100 million, potentially diverting much-needed resources from other races.
While Paxton is very popular with the conservative base of the party, it’s not clear at this point what Trump will do regarding the race. And political strategists note that toppling Cornyn in a GOP primary will likely be a very expensive proposition, and it’s not clear if Paxton can raise the money needed for victory.
«This says two things. One, Paxton sees an opportunity. And two, him getting in this early shows he needs the maximum time possible to try to raise money,» Mackowiak said. He added that Paxton «has received some negative feedback on fundraising.»
Paxton grabbed national attention in 2020 for filing the unsuccessful Texas vs. Pennsylvania case in the Supreme Court that tried to overturn former President Joe Biden’s razor-thin win over Trump in the Keystone State, and for speaking at the Trump rally near the White House that immediately preceded the deadly Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol by right-wing extremists aiming to disrupt congressional certification of Biden’s Electoral College victory.
During Biden’s four years in the White House, Paxton took the administration to court numerous times.
While Paxton, who’s in his third four-year term as Texas attorney general, has long been a legal warrior in the MAGA movement, he also has plenty of personal political baggage.
Paxton was indicted on securities fraud charges soon after taking office in 2015, and more recently came under investigation by the FBI over bribery and corruption allegations from former top staffers. And in 2022, he survived a bruising primary amid his many legal difficulties.
In 2023, Paxton was impeached by the Texas House of Representatives, but he was later acquitted of all charges by the state Senate.
The charges in the long-running federal corruption probe were dropped during the final weeks of the Biden administration.
The attorney general also faced an investigation by the Texas State Bar for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results.
While Paxton for years has denied any wrongdoing and has survived his legal fights, he would likely continue to face tough optics and plenty of incoming fire over his past predicaments during a Senate showdown.
Colin Allred, last year’s Democratic Senate nominee in Texas, speaks at a campaign rally in Houston on Oct. 25. (Reuters/Marco Bello)
The eventual winner of next year’s GOP primary will be considered the favorite in the general election against whomever the Democrats nominate.
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Former Rep. Colin Allred has said he’ll decide by this summer if he’ll mount a 2026 Senate campaign.
Allred, a former Baylor University football player and NFL linebacker who later represented Texas’ 32nd Congressional District (which includes parts of Dallas and surrounding suburbs), was last year’s Democratic challenger in the race against Cruz.
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The Trump administration is releasing roughly $6.8 billion in previously frozen federal funds for K-12 programs, the Department of Education announced Friday. The announcement was made as Secretary Linda McMahon attended the National Governors Association (NGA) Summer Meeting in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) «has completed its review of Title I-C, Title II-A, Title III-A and Title IV-A ESEA funds and Title II WIOA funds and has directed the Department to release all formula funds. The agency will begin dispersing funds to states next week,» department spokesperson Madi Biedermann told Fox News Digital.
More than 20 Democratic attorneys general sued the Trump administration earlier this month, describing the Department of Education’s federal funding freeze as unconstitutional and «debilitating» to states just weeks ahead of a new school year.
The bipartisan group of governors, including the NGA’s outgoing chair, Gov. Jared Polis of Colorado, and its vice chair, Gov. Kevin Stitt of Oklahoma, thanked McMahon for unlocking the funding during the NGA’s education session Friday.
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Secretary of Education Linda McMahon testifies at a House Committee on Appropriations subcommittee budget hearing on the Department of Education on Capitol Hill May 21, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)
«How can we better communicate to make sure that this chaos and uncertainty doesn’t occur again around funding and that people know things earlier?» Polis asked McMahon on the Colorado Springs stage.
«No guarantees from me that we will eliminate all the communications gaps that do happen, but I can say that part of it is just the transition aspect,» McMahon explained.
The education secretary said the other aspect of the federal funding freeze was that the OMB budget office «took some time to really review the title funding to look at all the programs, etc., before they were released. They were well satisfied. So, now, those funds are going to be going out.»
TRUMP ADMIN SEEKING TO PULL FUNDING FROM LOCAL GOVERNMENTS SLAPPED WITH JUDGE’S PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, the National Governors Association’s outgoing chair, discusses American education with Education Secretary Linda McMahon at the NGA Summer meeting in Colorado Springs, Colo., Friday, July 25, 2025. (Deirdre Heavey/Fox News Digital)
McMahon assured the governors that now that they have reviewed title funding and gone through the process, «we wouldn’t find ourselves in the same situation.»
Several of the governors who attended Polis and McMahon’s education discussion and had the opportunity to ask questions thanked the education leader for returning the federal title funds to the states.
Polis kicked off the NGA’s summer session in Colorado Springs Friday with his signature policy agenda, «Let’s Get Ready! Educating All Americans for Success.»
EDUCATION SECRETARY LINDA MCMAHON TOUTS COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY’S $200M SETTLEMENT ‘TEMPLATE’
Education Secretary Linda McMahon delivers remarks at the National Governors Association summer meeting in Colorado Springs, Colo., Friday, July 25. (Deirdre Heavey/Fox News Digital)
McMahon said she was appreciative of the governors’ questions and comments, and she committed to visiting as many states and speaking with as many governors as possible to grasp the full scope of the country’s diverse educational needs.
Polis and Stitt said in a joint statement released by NGA that they are «thankful these bipartisan discussions with Secretary McMahon and other key officials during the NGA Summer Meeting led to the distribution of these education funds.»
«This action ensures schools across the nation can maintain essential programs for English language learners, teacher training, and student enrichment as the new academic year begins,» the NGA leaders said, emphasizing that «governors from both parties stand united in prioritizing our children’s education, and we’re proud our advocacy helped secure this vital support for states and districts.»
In an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital ahead of her remarks, McMahon affirmed her commitment to collaborating with governors as the Trump administration seeks to dismantle the Department of Education.
«It’s just incredibly important that if we are going to return education to the states, we have to talk to the governors,» McMahon said.
«Clearly, education is a nonpartisan issue,» McMahon added. «If we’re going to return education to the states, that just means giving them back the part that is now provided by the federal government, and they’re anxious for it.»
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Trump signed an executive order earlier this year to dismantle the Department of Education, fulfilling one of his key campaign promises during the 2024 presidential election.
Fox News Digital’s Breanne Deppisch contributed to this report.
INTERNACIONAL
Europeans meet with Iranian officials face-to-face for first time since Israel, US bombings as sanctions loom
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European diplomats met with Iranians on Friday face-to-face for the first time since Israel and the U.S. bombed the country last month.
The «serious, frank and detailed» meeting in Istanbul, Turkey, lasted for around four hours and the officials all agreed to meet again for continued negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program.
Sanctions that were lifted on Iran in 2015 after it agreed to restrictions and monitoring of its nuclear program could be reimposed if Iran doesn’t comply with requirements.
One of Europe’s E3 nations – Britain, France and Germany, who held the talks with Iran – could bring back sanctions under the «snapback» mechanism, which allows one of the European countries to bring back U.N. sanctions if Iran violates the conditions.
IRAN SEEKS CHINA, RUSSIA HELP TO STALL UN SANCTIONS AHEAD OF NUCLEAR TALKS WITH EUROPEANS
Cars, which are believed to carry European diplomats, enter the Iranian consulate ahead of a meeting with Iranian counterparts for talks over Tehran’s nuclear program, in Istanbul, Turkey, Friday, July 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
European leaders have also said that sanctions will start being reinstated by the end of August if there is no progress on reining in Iran’s nuclear program.
«A possible delay in triggering snapback has been floated to the Iranians on the condition that there is credible diplomatic engagement by Iran, that they resume full cooperation with the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency), and that they address concerns about their highly-enriched uranium stockpile,» a European diplomat said on condition of anonymity before the talks on Friday.
The diplomat added that the snapback mechanism «remains on the table.»
Iranian worshippers shout anti-U.S. and anti-Israeli slogans as one of them holds a portrait of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, during an anti-Israeli rally to condemn Israeli attacks on Iran, after Tehran’s Friday prayers in Tehran, Iran, on June 20, 2025. (Photo by Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
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Iran said that the U.S. needs to rejoin the 2015 nuclear deal – after President Trump pulled America out of it in 2018 – saying Iran has «absolutely no trust in the United States.»
The U.S. bombed Iran’s nuclear sites on June 22, a little over a week after Israel had bombed the country over national security concerns about its nuclear program.
A military truck carries a missile past a portrait of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during an annual military parade. (ATTA KENARE/AFP/GettyImages))
Iran responded by attacking Israel and a U.S. Army base in Qatar.
Isreal and Iran agreed to a ceasefire on June 24.
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The IAEA issued a concerning report in May that said that Iran’s stockpile of near-weapons-grade enriched uranium had grown by nearly 50% in three months.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
INTERNACIONAL
¿Guerra en el Sudeste asiático? Las claves de los enfrentamientos mortales entre Tailandia y Camboya, enemigos históricos
Una nueva guerra en un mundo poblado de conflictos, con profundas raíces hostiles de hace siglos entre Tailandia y Camboya, se perfila en el sudeste asiático. Para este viernes fue convocado de urgencia el Consejo de Seguridad de las Naciones Unidas para tratar de evitar un estallido en una zona delicada del mundo, cada vez más inestable por la difusión de guerras locales.
Tailandia ordenó evacuar más de cien mil nacionales de la frontera en conflicto, de ochocientos kilómetros, y se han producido los primeros choques por incursiones camboyanas, con un saldo de catorce muertos. Y es solo el comienzo.
En Roma se están juntando más de un millón de jóvenes para celebrar desde el lunes 28 hasta el 3 de agosto el Jubileo Mundial del Año 2025 dedicado a la Juventud bajo la popular consigna de dar “un grito contra la guerra”, que sería conmovido por un abierto conflicto entre Tailandia y Camboya.
En ambos países el poder militar es determinante en el gobierno del país desde hace muchos años. Tailandia, con 71 millones de habitantes distribuidos en 53.000 kilómetros cuadrados de territorio es predominante sobre Camboya, con 17 millones de habitantes repartidos en 181 mil kilómetros cuadrados y un fuerte aparto militar bien entrenado.
En el siglo XX, Francia, la potencia colonial, diseñó en 1907 los confines entre Camboya y el reino de Siam, la actual Tailandia, asignando una buena parte a los camboyanos. Hasta 1953 Francia ocupó Indochina. Las fronteras nunca fueron aceptadas por los dos países y hasta hoy se prolongan los choques armados.
El jueves los ataques principales los lanzó Camboya y Tailandia ordenó la evacuación y respondió con incursiones aéreas. Los sentimientos nacionalistas aumentan los odios mutuos. Pero también la lucha se exalta con la religión, en la lucha por la posesión de los numerosos templos budistas e hinduistas, que se remontan a muchos siglos y están parcialmente en ruinas, aunque son de una gran belleza y valor arquitectónica, además de su importancia religiosa.
Ya en mayo pasado la crisis había escalado, con la muerte de un soldado camboyano y las graves heridas de un militar tailandés tras pisar una mina en el confín de Chong Bok.
El premier thailandés Phumtham Wechayachai acusó a Camboya de colocar nuevas minas en la vasta área en contienda. Los camboyanos rechazaron las protestas, advirtiendo que el gobierno de Phnom Penh, la capital, defenderá la integridad territorial “en cualquier circunstancia y a cualquier costo”
En los dos países el poder militar respalda el “no pasarán”. En 2011 los choques causaron treinta muertos. Todos saben que si los enfrentamientos no son controlados la violencia se derramará en toda la frontera.
Tailandia demuestra el ulterior deterioro de las relaciones bilaterales rebajando “al nivel más bajo” las relaciones diplomáticas. Su gobierno llamó al embajador en la capital de Camboya y echó del país al embajador camboyano.
Hace dos meses que la situación va precipitando, con controles fronterizos intensificados. Tailandia ha cerrado muchos pasos con su potencial enemigo, con represalias camboyanas inmediatas. Camboya anunció que se implanta la extensión del servicio militar obligatorio desde enero de 2026.
Camboya ha prohibido la importación de fruta y verdura. También de combustible, desde Tailandia. Ambos países han reducido la duración de los permisos de residencia mutuos.
Las medidas continuas que atacan la convivencia a través de las frontera, se han intensificado en los últimos meses también en zonas donde hasta ahora no hubo enfrentamientos.
Estados Unidos se ha limitado a hacer llamados a los dos países para negociar una convivencia pacífica, pero no se muestra decidido a una mediación que, por otra parte, no le han pedido ni Tailandia ni Camboya.
La crisis progresiva repercute en la política interna de los contendientes. El gobierno tailandés ha sido acusado por la oposición y sectores de las mismas fuerzas de la mayoría, pidiendo la dimisión de la premier.
Lo mismo ocurre en Camboya, que además se ha apelado en el reciente pasado a la Corte Internacional de Justicia para resolver las controversias sobre las fronteras.
Tailandia no acepta la jurisdicción de la Corte y prefiere resolver las cuestiones “a través de negociaciones directas”, que muchas veces no dan resultado y llevan a enfrentamientos directos, que esta vez tienen una perspectiva muy grave.
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